Peppermint Kisses
by VenusUnchained
Summary: Part 3 of Strawberries and Strangers- Commissioned by my dearest friend Lyrhia


Beyond the door to his best friend's apartment would be a slew of festive decor, ugly Christmas sweaters, and cheesy costumes, where he was decidedly dressed like a modern day Scrooge. He was fully prepared to take all of the shit from the guys for this because yes, he had gone into the office early that morning to wrap a few things up to take advantage of the deafening silence that came with having a blissfully vacant office building. There was never such a thing as too prepared when it came to financials and the end of the year, and he only had a few weeks until the new branch of his firm officially opened. So he wore his dark grey suit with pride, having enough sense to leave his tie in the car and leave a few buttons open on his black dress shirt to feign the appearance that he was just a tad bit more casual. Really, Khai was really just letting his neck breathe.

Christmas music covered by some pop idol group grated his ears, and in Grinchly fashion, he glared at the festive wreath on the painted white door in front of him, abated sigh deflating his chest when he finally knocked. With any luck, he'd only have to stay the hour until after Mamoru made his big move.

"Khai! You made it!" The music spilled out into the hallway, along with various scents of delicious food and uplifted spirits that seemed to follow the tiny blonde woman who greeted Khai by all but tackling him into a warm hug. Her voice was loud and excited like bells that echoed through the vacant entryway and might have disturbed Mamoru's neighbors if his flat didn't take up nearly the entire floor.

He smiled, he couldn't help himself because Usagi wasn't just good for Mamoru, but everyone around her. It was impossible not to feel endearment for her infectious, sweet nature, her excitement, and love for everything and everyone around her. Basically, if you made an enemy out of Tsukino Usagi, there was something inherently wrong with you. Even Khai felt a physical excitement flutter in his stomach knowing that in just an hour she would be the future Mrs. Chiba.

A bold assumption maybe, but to anyone who knew the inseparable power couple for any given amount of time would agree that it was a sure thing. So Khai gathered her small frame into his arms for a hug, chastely kissing the part of her hair between the two holly decorated buns she wore on her head. "I wouldn't miss it for the world Usagi. Merry Christmas."

"Merry Christmas! Mamo-Chan will be SO happy you came!" She leaned in, her blue eyes narrowing as though she had some great secret to tell, and she lowered her voice to a whisper. "Though, I'm pretty sure Zaki has a bet going with Jeison that you might flake." Without missing a beat, she turned and began pulling Khai into a familiar foyer to a vastly changed apartment, calling loudly into a small crowd of people. "Mamo-Chan! Look who made it!"

The man in question met his eyes through the sea of Santa costumes with a triumphant and already half drunken grin, lifting his red solo cup in cheers. A cheap gold crown sat lopsided on his head of ebony hair and tacky green velvet cape covered a festive red tuxedo some party stores offered for Holiday parties like these. Khai extended his standard nod for a greeting, finding his lips quirking with the smallest of knowing smiles, but it was no less genuine than Usagi's excited grin.

"Well, would ya look at that, Scrooge himself has arrived." Khai took note of the first of many Christmas Carol jokes for the evening when Jeison and Nigel approached, both wearing ugly, gaudy sweaters, eyeing his red scarf, polished shoes, and dark wool coat with amusement.

"Lay off the punch." He commented, flicking the bell at the end of Jeison's obnoxious little elf hat before shrugging out of his coat and furthering his Scrooge status by revealing his very plain grey suit.

"Ooh, I think you look really nice!" Usagi butted in, taking his coat and scarf without his permission like she was doing him a favor. "Mamo-chan's bed was the best we could do for a coat closet, so I'll take this while you go _**have fun.**_ And you boys behave, it's Christmas, you know!"

With a good natured scolding look, the vibrant blonde was bounding off with her arms full of his coat and scarf, her long pigtails trailing behind her cute little white angel dress. It couldn't have been more fitting, except in reference to these specific men, behaving didn't exactly go hand in hand.

"Pfft, what does she know? You're a miser down to that grey hair of yours lately and you wouldn't know fun if the Ghosts of Christmas Past came to haunt you in your sleep." Nigel mused, shifting his lively brown eyes from Usagi's retreating back to him to reassess his attire. "Not I think Scrooge would be caught dead in Armani."

Khai shot him a less than amused glare for it, sifting his fingers through the length of said silver toned hair. "Clever, Dickens."

"You could stand to take Usa's advice and at least try to enjoy yourself. Our little boy is growing up!" Nigel draped an arm around his shoulders flashing his megawatt cheesy, but charming toothy grin. "We're also gonna have a bachelor party to plan soon..."

"Shhh...Not if you don't keep your trap shut. Usa has ears like a rabbit." Khai muttered, and Jeison just nodded, causing the bell on his hat to jingle annoyingly.

"Yeah, and Rei threatened to light me on fire twice while she was setting up the candles so I really don't feel like testing her." Jeison's cerulean eyes shifted back up at the two taller men and his lips curled in a less than savory grin. "Oh she'd totally do it if we blow Mamoru's cover, and I'm this close to finding some mistletoe around here. Better bet I'll go down for kissing her before I ruin the big surprise tonight."

"Hah, good luck Elf boy." Nigel clapped a hand on Jeison's shoulder and pulled Khai in tighter to take a quick selfie, blinding them both with the flash from his phone. "I'm gonna go catch up with Makoto, you should come and meet her real quick."

"I'm gonna grab a drink and I'll make the rounds." Khai promised, blinking to try and clear some of the rather colorful spots from in front of his eyes. "You should do that to Zak and see if you walk away with your head."

"I hugged him earlier. I'm pretty sure he still wants to claw my eyes out for it. You're right though, a celebratory selfie is just the bro bonding we need." Nigel grinned wider and headed straight for their friend in his classier green sweater, long curls of strawberry blonde pulled back into his standard low ponytail adorned by a larger than normal green ribbon. "OOH even better! Jei, let me know if you find that mistletoe! I might need to borrow it."

"Careful HE doesn't set you on fire." Jeison promised with a grin, rubbing his hands together when he spied Rei struggling with some heavy boxes full of unopened wine bottles. "Pardon me, Santa looks like she could use a little helper."

Khai groaned and rolled his eyes, finding himself abandoned entirely for a rather pretty woman with long raven hair, flaunting some killer legs in some red heels and a short Santa suit. If he had to guess, her name was probably Rei. He sighed heavy through his lips, the holiday never really had been his thing, and considering the mood he'd been in over the past couple of months he supposed the nickname of Scrooge was only fitting.

Mamoru's apartment was nearly unrecognizable. He and Mamoru had very similar, minimalist styles, so the flat once decked in clean lines and neutral colors was now filled with ambiance and color, elegant nonetheless for the occasion and not too over the top. Khai had no doubt with Usagi around, his days of very minimal color were coming to an abrupt end. The living space was dimly lit but made bright by about a billion twinkle lights and candles all secured in glass tumblers, huge, overly decorated Christmas tree was left dark in front of the windows, where rather fittingly, a thick shower of snow could be seen falling outside.

At first glance, Khai knew many of those in attendance, though most were limited to acquaintances. He'd briefly met a few of Usagi's friends who made up the majority of the crowd, the rest were some of Mamoru's colleagues, and older friends from his days of studying at the noisy and very busy Fruits Parlor: Crown Arcade in a time before he'd met any of them. It was only recently that Mamoru would admit to doing very little studying at the teenage hangout and that it was all just a ruse to run into Usagi so they could get into one of their legendary arguments. This forced a lot of coffee fueled, all night study sessions for Mamoru according to Motoki, who hands down had the very best stories of their juvenile occurrences.

Khai meandered through the small crowd toward the buffet to seek out a drink, making pleasantries where he could. They'd set up a long catering table in the dining room beside the kitchen, packed with too much food for him to name and handcrafted beverages. Refusing some eggnog atrocity, Khai opted for some heavily spiked, spiced cider, checking his watch out of habit with nerves for the hour to come.

"Bored already?" Nigel appeared out of nowhere, digging an elbow into his ribs nearly causing Khai to spit out his drink. For such a tall, hulking idiot he sure was stealthy when he wanted to be. "Hey, I want you to meet Kino Makoto. She's Usagi's friend, probably the best cook on the planet, as well as one of the most beautiful women alive."

"Oh please." Makoto rolled her eyes, and Nigel wasn't wrong about how pretty she was. The girl was tall, like up to his nose tall and Khai was six foot two. She was built like a brick house, but her eyes were as green as her Elf costume, which suited her ponytail of auburn ringlets and the sugar sweet nature of her smile. She was stunning really, like the girl next door, and beside Nigel's six foot five frame he didn't dwarf her so much as Makoto complimented him completely. "It's nice to meet you Khai, I've heard a ton about you! Congratulations on the new branch for your firm, and welcome to Tokyo."

"Thank you. Nigel talks about nothing else, and I wish that were an exaggeration. It's nice to finally meet you." Khai lifted his cup to her, genuinely charmed by the couple that looked like they were plucked right out of a Hallmark movie.

Makoto flushed, purposefully leaning back against Nigel's chest with a half smug expression. "Well, you're a perfect gentleman. Hardly the MMMPH-"

"Now, now Mako, you're boring poor Khai to death." She glared with her eyes, but Nigel pulled Makoto in to kiss the crown of her head while his hand was clamped tightly over her mouth. "I certainly said nothing but nice things about him -OOF!"

He doubled over slightly from taking Makoto's elbowed jab to the stomach, one of the only people he'd seen get the better of Nigel, and Khai decided right away that he liked this girl a lot. She'd be good for him. "It's fine Makoto. I'm used to their nicknames and juvenile humor. I do work too much, and they have less than endearing ways of reminding me, but they always mean well."

"Well, I've got your back and your stomach." She said with a wink, "Speaking of, you should eat, I always overcook for these occasions and there's plenty. I'm pretty much begging you because I am overstocked at my cafe, and I have NO room at my house to bring this stuff home."

"I'll eat it!" Usagi called out with a girlish laugh. She was perched on Mamoru's knee with a piled plate of sugary goodies to share. Khai frowned at the sight, only because a slightly intoxicated Mamoru with a sugar high, while sometimes entertaining, was a bit chatty and sometimes a little emotional. Not great for what he was about to do.

He almost intervened while the others carried on around him, but somewhere over the sounds of 'Santa Baby' and murmurs of various conversations, he heard a familiar laugh. It was a laugh he'd memorized months ago during the ungodly morning hours where the rest of the world slept, and he was propped up in a hotel bed with a beautiful blonde in his arms, charming him beyond reason with talk about the most boring, and sometimes embarrassing details about each other.

Khai kept his cool, casually turning with his drink in hand to scan the crowded room with blind hope, grey eyes falling almost immediately on her. She was disarmingly beautiful, more so than his bland imagination allowed him to remember, wondering if he'd missed her somehow in his search through seas of people on crowded streets, or the jungles of various social media platforms. It was almost humorous to him that he should find her here, in the last place he would have thought to look, where that laughter was a salve to the regret he felt ever since he'd failed to get her number.

Khai certainly hadn't expected to find her at his best friend's Christmas party, laughing and talking to Jeison of all people, being charming as ever with a candy cane posed suggestively between her velvety matte red lips. It took him a moment to realize his friend was trying to con the headband she wore from her, one that dangled mistletoe in front of her face by a spring that bobbed in front of her face when she laughed. Those who passed by her would stop to kiss her cheek or chastely kiss her lips, an adorably flirtatious gimmick to her costume that told him she was as free spirited as she was extrovertedly charming. She certainly had his interest piqued, his blood pressure rising from the mere sight of her and the many memories Khai had of those alluring lips.

Her eyes glittered like blue diamonds in the dim lights, makeup kept simple with thick cat winged liner to accompany those candy red, petal soft lips, skin glowing with a gold tinted sheen and a rosy flush. Golden hair fell in loose curls down to her waist, held half back by a large red ribbon and framed her face with a thick fringe, and Khai felt his mouth water when he allowed himself to acknowledge her attire. Her dress was a matching holiday red, a tight number that emphasized the deep curves of her body and flared around her thighs baring an incredible set of legs. They were sheathed to the thigh with red and white striped stockings like the candy cane she absently sucked on, topped with a pair of red heeled mary janes with decorative bows for a sweet twist on her otherwise sexy costume.

She shooed Jeison toward Rei without surrendering her mistletoe headband, issuing a blinding smile when the couple started to dance, but Khai swore he saw something longing pass behind her eyes when she gazed at them. It was a far cry from the seductress that he knew, and as much as she mingled and socialized she seemed almost lonely. All that shifted of course, when Usagi practically skipped toward her, linking arms to whisper excited gossip about how Jeison and Rei seemed to put aside whatever differences they had to have a little fun, dancing closely with no mistletoe required.

Khai's feet moved toward her before he gave them permission to. Somehow, he felt as if he didn't act before the grande proposal, he was going to miss his chance, and he couldn't afford to let her slip through his fingers for a second time. So he polished off the strong cider in one go, discarding the red cup while the afterburn from the warm apple taste slipped down his throat and the warmth from the booze spread courage to his limbs. Khai approached from the side, ignoring the way Usagi perked up to fix his gaze down at Mina. "Fashionably late. Again."

Mina shifted to meet his pointed stare, wide with surprise while something sly and knowing gleamed in Usagi's wide, crystalline blue eyes beside her. "You two know each other? Mina, this is Mamo-Chan's closest friend Khai. He just moved here about three months ago. Such a small world, dontcha think?"

"Yes." Khai answered for her, looking only at Mina who smiled, and slowly folded her arms, still holding that candy cane between her lips. "What are the chances?"

"We've met." Mina finally piped in, shooting Usagi a look from under her dangling mistletoe, shifting forward on her feet to wrap her hand around his bicep, lifting her chin to finally meet his eyes. He felt goosebumps rise to his skin from under his suit jacket and shirt, grateful for the coverage to hide it because her perfume hit him above all of the festive scents in the room, still all sweet and honeysuckle like a summer afternoon, now hinted with the peppermint candy on her breath. Air he wanted, and needed to breathe, immediately. "In fact, I think we have some catching up to do. You know, boring stuff."

"Don't do anything you would do!" Usagi called out with a positively gleeful expression after them as Mina began pulling him through the crowd toward the kitchen which was probably the least occupied room of the house with the exception of Mamoru's bedroom.

She tossed the peppermint stick in the trash on her way into the normally clean and sterile space, now cluttered with cups, paper plates, and empty wine bottles. Gripping the lapels of his suit jacket, Mina pulled him in until her back hit the counter and they were mostly concealed from the crowd in the neighboring room. When he met her summery blue eyes, Khai noticed the background noise dulled and his throat ran dry when he attempted to swallow the knot in it.

The silence was awkward, both stuck at an impasse between strangers and friends since acquaintances didn't really cover it and while she seemed to have trouble holding his eyes. He couldn't look at anything else. It felt surreal just to be near her after all that time, like all of it was some absurd dream he'd been chasing, and while he wanted to reach for her it felt presumptuous to do so. "I didn't expect to see you again. I didn't know you were Mamoru's friend or…" Mina trailed off, shifting her stare to the side. "He and I aren't close, but Usagi's been like a sister to me for a long time."

He smiled, lifting a hand to brush some stray hair stuck in her silly mistletoe headband from her cheek, remembering the very sweet way she spoke about her friends the night they met. He knew Makoto, Rei, and Ami were all friends of Usagi's so he gathered they must be her friends as well. "I understand what you mean about your friends now. They could absolutely take out a mob boss. I was right to be afraid."

This made her smile, but when her eyes flickered up to his, the misplaced uncertainty was shocking to him. "I'm so sorry Khai."

His grey eyes widened some, brows barely furrowing with his confusion. "What for?"

"I should have called you, or shown up at your office, or-"

"First thing's first." He interrupted, lacing his fingers into her hair, as soft and thick as he remembered, and pulled those rose petal lips to meet his own. It's true while he was wasting time on Instagram or creating Twitter accounts and scouring SnapChat in vain, he had hoped Mina might Google his name and track him down. It was an empty hope, not that he was a big believer in fate, but Khai had kept his hope to himself that she might have felt the same chemistry between them that night. Even if his new office building wasn't operational yet, the website for his company contained his main office number- which always forwarded his calls to his cell.

None of that mattered with her peppermint flavored lips pressed against his own, and she pulled off her headband, tossing it into the trash without missing a beat, lacing her arms tightly around his neck. Mina practically crawled up on the counter herself, not without his help of course as Khai found himself pulled between her stocking clad thighs, red lipstick be damned, parting his lips to appease her impatient tongue. Cans, bottles, whatever was in her way was pushed unceremoniously aside and clattered to the floor or into the sink beside them.

"Damn right you should have called." Khai breathed against her still parted lips, breaking from the heat of the kiss to stare into her eyes. "I searched for you." His lips grazed her cheek until they reached the lobe of her ear, allowing him to inhale a breath of her perfume. "One night wasn't nearly enough."

"I know." She practically gasped, pulling him closer with the legs she'd wrapped around his waist from the counter. The feeling of her nails grazing the back of his neck was all the invitation he needed to taste the sensitive flesh of her neck, causing her back to arch into him and her fingers tensed and she tilted her head, "When it comes to dates, you're one for three. You missed my birthday."

"No, no, no, that's on you, Mina." Khai nipped her roughly with his teeth. She gasped and stiffened in his arms from the pain, so he soothed the nipped skin with his tongue. "You could have found me. Easily."

"It still took a few weeks, I…" He could almost feel her uncertainty in her stillness all of the sudden, slipping his hand back to cup her cheek as he withdrew to assess the wary emotion in her eyes but Mina only laughed and handed him a napkin. Based on the way her lipstick had smudged, he could only imagine the stained nightmare of his own and accepted, running it under a touch of water before scrubbing at his mouth. Mina did the same, wiping her lips clean, pausing to stare down at the napkin, stained red, crumpled in her palm. "I wasn't sure you'd want to see me."

"You're kidding right?"

She blanched, staring back at him with wide and disbelieving blues. "Is it so unrealistic that a guy like you wouldn't want to just move on? I mean, I told you what a mess I am and I guess it didn't dawn on me until I said it out loud, but I don't deserve-"

"Mina." Khai interrupted again more sternly before she could spout anymore insanity, stepping back between her thighs to urge her eyes into his own with well placed fingers at her chin. He was a hard book to read, he knew that because it was purposeful. He was an idiot to assume she could read him yet. "I know you don't know me well, but I didn't want to go to work that day. I wanted to lie in that hotel room listening to you talk about everything and nothing. I wanted to know you. That's a big deal. For me."

"You really searched for me?"

"In every crowd, and on every social media platform I could think of."

"You said you hate social media."

Khai smiled, observing the adorable shifts of her face when her nose would crinkle or she'd bite the plush petal of her bottom lip between her teeth in a manner that made his thoughts turn sideways. "I do. But I hate not knowing about what fascinates me, and you fascinate me, Mina. I'd like to keep getting to know you. Like why you'd throw that headband away. Mistletoe is for kissing isn't it?"

She smiled, hooking her legs around him to pull him closer, and this time Khai rested his hands on the curve of her hip and stared deep into her eyes while a familiar mischief flickered through hers. "Maybe I don't wanna kiss anyone else."

"What? They're not boring enough for you?" He teased, tentatively brushing his lips against hers.

"Mm, no one bores me like you do." Her arms snaked around his neck, and he could feel the familiar heat ignite the air between them with her cheeky banter and restored confidence. That wit that kept him on the edge of his seat. Mina pulled him forward until their chests met, and her skirt bunched up around her hips, revealing more of her thigh above the striped stockings for his fingers to feast upon. Warm and soft to the touch, but firm beneath the pads of his fingers he indulged himself with light caresses as he met the longing of her blue eyes with his own. Mina pressed her mouth against his, and the rest just seemed to melt away.

Khai was at her mercy, drowning in her hungered kisses much the way they did the night that they met and he couldn't give a damn who saw them. The low moan that betrayed him seemed to feed her wandering hands beneath his suit jacket, pulling him deeper with fingers buried in his hair, and Khai found himself ready to give her whatever she wanted, wherever she wanted it. The nature of that pressure below his belt that strained the unforgiving nature of his slacks as they tightened when Mina rocked her groin against his crotch, skirt bunched around her hips allowing the heat of her to become tangible through the thin fabric of her underwear.

His hands had found their way under her skirt, kneading and pulling her against his hardening groin while they devoured each other in a manner unsuited for the eyes of the potential audience in the crowded neighboring room. It was a kitchen, at a party, surely someone was likely to walk in, but it didn't stop Khai from unfastening his belt, allowing Mina to immediately reach for the button and zipper on his pants with the same thought. They could be discreet.

Time and place be damned, he thought he might burst when she first slipped her hand between them to caress his cock through his boxer briefs and he moaned against her lips, curling his fingers into the elastic of her underwear to pull them off because he hadn't stopped thinking about that first night for the past two months. The way her body gripped him when he thrust himself inside her, the breathy moans against his skin, and to hear his name on her lips had been a two-month-long fantasy he could no longer ignore. And Gods did he want her.

"Mina…" Khai moaned softly, trailing his lips to her neck, sucking lightly to pull her heartbeat into his mouth because if his memory served him right that had been a hot button for her, proven right by the less than discreet moan she tried to stifle with a bitten lip, her fingers curling in his hair.

"I want you." He felt her fingers slipped into the elastic of his boxer briefs with her breathy declaration, only when he thought one thing would happen, things went sideways really fast.

"Khaaaaaaaiiii, what the fuuuuck?"

Mina's hands pushed at his chest with a surprised squeak, both of them jumping out of their skin when Mamoru staggered and leaned against the doorframe. Khai quickly checked his watch, hair mussed and lips swollen, busted with a tent in his pants which were completely undone, all ten minutes before his best friend was supposed to propose to his girlfriend. "Mamoru, are you alright?"

"You were gonna have sex in my kitchen!?" He slurred, and spoke far louder than he probably thought he did so Khai quickly fixed his pants and stepped forward to gather Mamoru into the small space while Mina sat on the counter still trying to catch her breath. "Man, it's messy in here. Khai were you going to-"

"Shhhh… we've gotta get you pulled together before-"

"I love you man. I… I'm really glad you're here, because when I ask Usako-"

"Nonono don't say it too loud!" Mina hopped off the counter to hush him and helped to get Mamoru settled onto a spare stool.

"Awww, is this THE girl Khai!? She's pretty… and you're pretty Khai ..."

"I'm Usagi's best friend Mamoru, we've met." She shot Khai a look while he busied himself filling a hopefully clean red solo cup with some water.

"OH YEAH! MINA RIGHT?! Oh, you're the best Mina…. And he's the best, so you guys be the best people together, okay? Just don't have sex on my counter."

Khai had to shoot Mina a look when she snorted, and he crouched down in front of Mamoru, raking a hand down his face while handing him some water. "Drink."

"I'll go grab him something to eat. I don't know if Makoto knows how to make anything greasy but I'll do my best." Mina placed a hand on his shoulder, and the two shared a look that made Mamoru's hazy blue eyes glass over and fill with tears.

"Ohmygod you make him so HAPPY!"

"Mamoru, drink." Khai shot, forcing him to obey regardless of the emotions welling in his eyes while Mina scurried off to raid the buffet. He made sure she'd left the room before he added a hushed, "We barely know each other."

"Usagi makes me that happy. You deserve to be happy too and we can all be-" He paused to raise the cup to Khai, sloshing some of the water onto his red suit pants. "okay, okay I'm drinking the water. But I wanted you to know that I love her, and I love you, and ohmygosh I'm drunk. I'm supposed to do a thing Khai! How could you let me get drunk like this you asshole?" Khai plucked the cup from Mamoru's fingers, rolled his eyes and stood to get him more water.

"I'll remind you when you're sober that you're a big boy now, capable of making your own decisions." He replied dryly. Mamoru just chuckled softly and gazed back up at him, leaning against the back wall. He paused when he spoke, voice soft and still slightly slurred.

"Time's stupid. It doesn't matter how long you've known each other. If she knows about your job, your friends, your family… then she knows you. The rest just kinda happens. If you wanna be with her, then be with her. Just not on my counter please."

Khai deflated a slow breath as he turned off the faucet, lips tensing. Mamoru was always right, he just hated it when Mamoru was drunk AND right. His lips parted to speak, turning back to his drunk friend to offer his admission that somehow in the spark of a moment Mina had gotten under his skin, and Khai wasn't sure how deep just yet. Clamping his jaw shut he thought better of it, kept his silence, and merely slipped the cup back into Mamoru's fingers.

"Here," Mina interjected, rushing in with a plate full of sandwiches and thankfully some side dishes of substance. Khai's stare lingered on Mamoru while he processed his drunken, but wise, words, only shifting down to the blonde crouched between them while she held the plate for his friend. "Eat up, it's almost time!"

The beaming smile on her face, the excited twinkle in her eye made her all the more beautiful the longer he watched her care for him, content to let this play out when of course, five minutes before he was supposed to propose is when Mamoru began to break down. Cracking voice and sniffling included. "Do you think she really loves me?"

"What? Of course she does Mamoru, Usagi's my best friend and you two are more than made for each other." Mina soothed while he began shoving food in his mouth, and Khai couldn't help but notice the dreamy look in her eyes while she spoke. "You're her whole world. You do know that right? It's Usagi we're talking about."

"Yeah...you're right." He sniffled, taking the napkin Mina extended to wipe his nose. "I just can't believe I got so lucky."

"Come on, we gotta pull you together pal." Khai interrupted, taking the plate out of Mamoru's hands once he'd downed about three sandwiches in addition to whatever sugary crap Usagi was feeding him and Khai lead him over to the sink to help splash some cold water onto his face. "You've gotta do this Mamoru, you'll never forgive yourself if you don't."

"You're a really good friend-OW!" there was a loud crack when Khai slapped his palm hard against Mamoru's cheek causing a sobering glare from under his deep black hair. "ASSHOLE!"

"You'll thank me later." He replied and threw a dishtowel at him to dry his face, just as Usagi called out for Mamoru from the other room.

"Mamo-Chan! It's almost time to light the tree, you said I could put the star on top!"

"Shit… I don't know if I can do this." Khai watched him rake a hand through his careless hair before attempting to re-tame the dark locks with his fingers. The anxiety read clear in his blue eyes and he wrung his hands, blinking hard to try and sober up. "I mean everyone's here and.."

"You love her, right? Because she loves you more than anything." Mina had stepped forward, and Mamoru's cobalt eyes drifted toward her. He wasn't perfectly right yet but took another drink from his third cup of water. "You can do it, if it's right. You're her prince. Mamoru. She's always wanted to be a bride, and I don't think you'll ever see her more happy and excited than the moment you ask her. Usagi was made for you, and you were made for her."

"Yeah?" Mamoru's voice cracked a little, and Khai thought about smacking him again when the emotion touched his voice but chose to keep his hands to himself. The reassurance in her tone was enough to set even him at ease because everything she said was so on point. "I think I might be sick."

"Hey." Khai placed both hands on his shoulders and looked Mamoru in the eye with a sincere smile only the people closest to him ever saw. He knew Mina stared at him, but somehow he was okay with her seeing this rarely placed emotion from him, and even smiled wider. "You've got this buddy. Go make her the happiest girl in the world, because she's sure as hell the luckiest. I'd better have a bachelor party to plan and a wedding to help you with soon. You good?"

"Yeah, I'd do anything for Usako." Mamoru smiled and slapped his hands on Khai's shoulders in return, pulling him in for a brotherly hug. "I think I'm good. Thanks."

Mamoru cleared his throat, threw back the rest of the cold water in his cup and began the task of clumsily straightening out his costume-like red tuxedo. Khai plopped the cheap plastic gold crown back on top of his head with a reassuring look before gently pushing Mamoru out of the kitchen at the sound of Usagi's voice again, pausing with a deep breath to fully process everything that just happened.

Slowly, Khai turned back toward Mina who still watched him, leaning all prettily against the counter with her hands folded in front of her. "I guess it's time." She offered a small smile and took a step toward him, gazing up with her clear blue eyes through her lashes and lacing her fingers with his, pulling him out to join the crowd with a promise. "We can finish this later."

She gave him the eye over her shoulder, a look she'd given him once before on her way out of a restaurant to catch a taxi. One that led to a risky night of two strangers taking a chance on the other, a look that made him reckless in the most thrilling of ways. But tonight wasn't about him and his reckless abandonment of reason, his desires, or regrets.

The strings of lights had been turned off, bathing the dark and crowded living room in nothing but the light reflecting in from the snow outside and about a dozen or more lit candles. Mina lead him toward the front, never once letting go of his hand. Khai let her stand in front of him, leaning her back against his chest so she could teasingly rub her ass against his groin like his body wasn't still reeling enough. He set his jaw and clamped his free hand on her hip to halt her, pulling her flush against him in the process because he knew at some point these lights would turn back on and he'd already been caught with a tent in his pants once that night.

Mina laughed softly in her throat, then gasped a little and tensed, seeming to remember they were in a crowded room of their friends, and the sultry scent of her perfume hit him as he bent to whisper a promise against the shell of her ear. "Later."

It didn't stop him from tracing the curve of her waist, the back of her head hit the center of his chest so he could indulge in the scent of her shampoo and the feeling of her fingers laced in his. Neither looked anywhere but at the happy couple in front of them, his best friend and hers, as the countdown to light up the Christmas tree began no matter how lost in each other they became. Everyone gathered in a tight crescent formation as Mamoru lifted Usagi so she could place the star at its peak, igniting a tension, an excitement about what was to come. Yet for Khai, just her fingers entwined with his, her body pressed to him, these stolen caresses were electrified with the need just to touch her.

"I don't know if I'd say she's the luckiest. I'm feeling pretty lucky right now." Mina said quietly, and Khai only squeezed her hand gently in his own. He couldn't help but think how perfectly their hands fit together, but kept his stoic gaze forward, fighting the urge to grin like a fool.

Usagi froze when Mamoru dropped to his knee, obviously trying to keep his focus so he didn't slur or mess this up. The tree lit the room at the final countdown, gleaming in Usagi's already watering eyes as she held a hand over her mouth in apparent shock. Such a public moment had never been Mamoru's style, but he knew how much it would mean to her to have all of her friends present.

"Usako, this moment right now is what every day of my life has felt like since you became a part of it. Our friends all gathered on Christmas Eve, the excitement of lighting the tree… gosh, it's cheesy as heck but that's exactly what you did for me. I never had a family until I met you and your friends who apparently adopted me. You let me go to college overseas so I could find the brothers I always wanted, I just never knew I had.-" Khai coughed into his fist, seeing Mamoru getting emotional and losing track of what he was doing, which caused him to chuckle, nodding while he reached into his pocket for the ring. "You and I are everything fairy tales wish they could be. You make Christmas morning every morning, and I want that, I want you, for the rest of my life. Usako, will you marry me?"

Mina sniffled, tightening her fingers around his while she wiped her eyes with her free hand. Khai didn't need to look to know there weren't many dry eyes in the room, and even he felt a tightening in his throat he hadn't felt in years. Usagi sobbed, tears streaming down her face, but she smiled wide when Mamoru took her hand in his, pulling it toward him so he could slip a ring onto the finger before she tackled him. "Yes Mamo-Chan, Yes!"

Khai tightened his own fingers around Mina's, and when the crowded room erupted into triumphant celebration, they just looked at each other. It was strange to look at someone, virtually a stranger, and see more than one night. To feel the pining of a couple of months fixed into the blue eyes of a beautiful woman that so effortlessly made him forget about the end of the year accounting chaos of running a large business or nailing that next big sales win. She smiled wider, and yet in the flash of a moment, Usagi was pulling her away from him. Like two sisters, they shared a tearful hug, and soon they were enveloped in a group hug consisting of squealing women crying happy tears for their friends. Mamoru was right, they knew each other well enough, and the rest could come later. And Khai realized he wanted there to be a later with Mina.

"MY MAN!" Nigel's booming voice tore Khai from his thoughts, and suddenly he was pulled into an equally emotional, though much smaller group hug by one of the taller man's brutishly strong arms. He couldn't help but smile, through the tangled web of arms to meet Mamoru's watery blue eyes and broad dimpled smile.

"Congratulations!" Zak beamed, reaching to ruffle their friend's inky black hair, sending that cheesy gold crown clattering to the floor. Even he partook in shamelessly damn near snuggling Mamoru who was still a little drunk, perhaps extraordinarily emotional.

Jeison hugged around Mamoru's waist from behind, patting his chest with a cheeky grin. "We knew you could do it mate! Strippers are on me for the bachelor party!"

"NO strippers!"

One might have thought Usagi would shout the sentiment, but somewhere beyond the crowd of blubbering women, Rei's hostile and piercing violet eyes caused all five of the huddled men to visibly shiver. Khai blanched and turned back to pull Mamoru in for a hug when the other guys finally let go, pressing his forehead against his with a proud grin. "I told you it would be fine. I'm so happy for you."

"Thanks, Khai." Mamoru sniffled and suddenly the air became a distant memory when his arms restricted him in an iron grip. "You'll be my best man right?"

"Shouldn't that be Motoki? He was there when you met and-"

"I'll have two dammit!"

Khai laughed and gave his back a brotherly pat. "You can do whatever you want. Just say the word, I'll make it happen."

The alcohol began to flow more freely as the celebration took on a new tone and Makoto began flooding them all with various desserts and baked goods. Of which at least three pastries and one pudding dish were forced upon him against his will, and better judgment. True, they were sinfully delicious, but he knew all too well the stomach ache to come based on his long time decision to avoid processed sugar. Well, these girls were practically made of it and Khai wasn't sure how he'd survive as it was very clear that their friends had fully merged into a strange and functional but dysfunctional family.

Zaki was arguing over the chemistry in the particular wine that he'd been so gracious in choosing for the evening with a rather pretty girl with short blue hair and somewhat alternative style that worked at the hospital with Mamoru. Jeison, had rather disgustingly, dug Mina's mistletoe headband out of the trash which somehow worked in his favor since Rei had apparently caved in to his shameless flirting by the way she was kissing the daylights out of him in a dark corner. Makoto was having a blast, taking a break from serving dessert to play some game Nigel had pulled out of nowhere while the rest of the crowd began to gather around them, or thin and leave for home.

He chose to stand by the tree, watching the snow falling in thick, sparkling sheets over Tokyo, waiting patiently for Mina to untangle herself from social obligation. Normally, Khai would have made his exit by now. It was growing late and by nature, he was an early riser with no one's agenda but his own to manage but he kept meeting her eyes through the crowd, and he couldn't leave without at least getting her number this time. Sometimes he caught her staring in appreciation, other times she gave him a sympathetic smile as she tried to get away, but apparently Mina was quite the social butterfly.

"I brought you a sugar cookie. I frosted this one myself." His eyes drifted down to the blonde beside him, brow raised and lips quirked with mild amusement. "I only know because I'm really bad at this. It's supposed to be Santa, but it kind of looks like a pig…"

"That will destroy my stomach." Like it wasn't already doomed.

Mina rolled her eyes and shifted on her feet, breaking the cookie in half. "It's tradition. We always bake cookies, well Makoto does the baking, and we all have one with milk before bed on Christmas eve. I'll even split it with you."

Khai frowned, feeling his stomach already churning from the sugary junk Nigel's girlfriend had imposed upon him. "I'm good."

"C'mon, just because it's not green and flavorless doesn't mean it's going to kill you. It was the only excuse I could find to escape the crowd since you insist on not mingling. Here, pretend it's kale or something."

At her insistence, Khai rolled his eyes and took a bite, even caving when she shoved her solo cup of milk in his direction to dunk it with a bit of amusement tugging at his lip. It was as delicious as it was hideous, and it was pretty scary looking, prompting him to refrain from any Nightmare Before Christmas jokes and fill the silence with a generally bland statement. "The roads are getting bad."

"Thinking of leaving already?" He glanced down at her, wide blue eyes staring out in wonder at the falling snow with a dreamy expression on her face. "I think it's beautiful."

"It is."

A light flush tinted her highlighted cheekbones when she noticed him staring shamelessly, and she set her cup down and dusted the crumbs off her hands. "Dance with me."

"I don't dance."

"You don't eat sugar or pancakes, you don't dance, come on Khai. For me? At least once before you go?" He swallowed the last sugary bite of the cookie and glanced behind him. Mamoru and Usagi were slow dancing to an elegant violin and piano rendition of Silent Night, so lost in their own little world that they didn't seem to hear Nigel and Makoto screaming at each other over their video game. Her fingers laced with his again, and he found himself pulled to the opposite end of the living room where there weren't so many people. Most were too enthralled by the heated spectacle of Nigel getting his ass kicked in Super Smash Bros or cutting the night short due to the snowstorm.

"Fine, one dance. For you." He agreed when her arms laced around his neck, her body pressing against his, watching him intently through thick black lashes framed by golden fringe, and they began to sway. "You really had my number, this whole time?"

Mina deflated in his arms, her head falling forward to the center of his chest in defeat. "Don't play on my insecurities Mister, I didn't want to just presumptively call your office in case you decided you'd prefer someone more... put together. Plus you said you were so busy and-"

"I made it quite clear that I wanted to see you again. I would have made the time." He lifted her chin with his fingers so she'd look back up at him, but it wasn't until he tightened his grip on her waist and pulled her tightly against him that her eyes would dare meet his own regardless of how they scolded her. "When it's important, I always do."

"Fair enough." She spoke generically, in a tone not unlike their very first conversation. Guarded and feeling him out like it was some form of test.

"Maybe I need to remind you."

He watched her eyes rove over his face, almost daring him by lingering on his mouth before locking with his again, whispering. "Maybe you should."

"Only if you want me to." He purred in return, pushing the ball back into her court, something that amused her as much as it frustrated her.

"Don't forget, you didn't ask for my number either, this is partially on you for keeping a girl waiting on her birthday."

"Do I get no credit for trying?" Mina grinned at this and bit her lip when his hands slipped down the slope of her back, then upward under her hair where his fingers could play with the zipper on her dress and trace up her spine between her shoulder blades. "If anything, I should make you pay for holding out on me."

She made a pleased humming sound in her throat, arching her back under his touch to press her chest more firmly into his own, seeming to relent to his touch for the moment. "You're here now, I'll give you all of the credit you want if you pretend I'm still wearing that mistletoe. You can make me pay for the rest later."

"Oh, and what is this?" Zaki stood off to the side, arms crossed with a finger tapping against his glass of wine as though he'd stumbled on something juicy and decided to interrupt the moment before their lips could even touch. They all knew Khai had been less than friendly or social the past few months for reasons he'd kept to himself, so he supposed one of them noticing the girl tucked intimately in his arms would have raised some questions. Silently, he cursed his curly haired friend and cleared his throat to maintain his cool demeanor.

"Zaki, meet Mina. She's one of Usagi's friends."

He took a drink of his wine, his cat-like green eyes looking her up and down in a clearly judgemental assessment. Mina of course, slipped her hands to rest on his chest with a warm smile toward his otherwise abrasive friend like he hadn't just interrupted an intimate moment. Zaki was always a bit protective of him for some reason, so all Khai could do was warn him with his eyes to be nice. "It's so nice to meet you, Zaki. I guess we'll be seeing each other more with the wedding coming up."

"I suppose we will." His lips curled just slightly on one side and Zaki turned to leave, pausing to address Khai. "You could do worse."

He deflated a breath and rolled his eyes toward the ceiling when Zaki walked off to join the crowd while Mina huffed at his retreating back. Khai couldn't help but chuckle at the face she made. "Well. I think he likes you."

"Really?"

"Probably not. Zaki doesn't like anyone except for me, Mamoru, Jeison, and only sometimes Nigel since he insists on pestering him to death."

"Well, he seems to be okay with my friend Ami too." Mina nodded toward his friend who stood beside that blue haired girl he recognized from the hospital Mamoru worked at, watching the video game shenanigans taking place and discreetly entwining his fingers with the girl's while he sipped his wine. Khai smirked and gazed back at the grinning woman in his arms as she nestled in close again.

"Yeah, I guess so." Khai ran his fingers through some of the silken hair that fell down to the small of her back, leaning to press his forehead against hers. "I should get going soon, but I'm going to need your number if I'm going to repay you for lost time."

He'd planned to move away, but Mina pulled him closer, tightening her arms around his neck. "Do you have to go? We only just found each other again."

Khai chuckled softly, causing her breath to catch when he brushed his nose against hers. He could almost feel the tension between their lips as they almost touched and his fingers sought the soft skin of her back. The red dress she wore became frustrating regardless of how unfairly well she wore it. "Well it looks like Jeison snuck out with your friend, Usagi and Mamoru have disappeared so I can imagine they are probably wanting some privacy. If I were in a hurry I would have left an hour ago, but I guess I was hoping...What did you have in mind?"

"Depends. What do you have planned for Christmas?"

* * *

"No plans." He admitted quietly, and Mina realized they'd been hiding practically behind the tree while the rest of the guests left due to the weather or the late hour. Ami and his friend Zak had joined Nigel and Makoto in a game of Smash Brothers, and Rei was supposed to be her ride home but apparently had other plans that involved Jeison. It didn't matter because regardless, she couldn't stand the thought of Khai spending Christmas alone when they had only just found each other again. Convenient that she'd be alone too, and didn't want to be.

"Spend it with me?"

Khai pulled back to search her eyes in that unreadable way he had about him, and he nodded without a word but spoke with his hands the way they would trace her curves or seek her skin. He hadn't stopped touching her since the kitchen, and Mina was in no hurry to escape the sensuous and intimate manner he had with his hands, finding herself in a rush to get back to them when she found herself occupied with anyone else. "No more avoiding the personal or mundane."

"Okay." She agreed, watching the bob of his Adam's apple when he swallowed, drifting down to the skin exposed through his slightly open shirt. Her hands followed her eyes, snaking around his waist under his suit jacket. "I'll be as intimate as you want me to be."

"I'll hold you to it."

"Well," Mina began, feeling him tense in her arms when she reached into his back pocket to grab his cell phone. She clicked on the screen and held it up for him to unlock it. "I may have your office number, but I don't have your cell, and I'm not calling you to talk to your secretary. Ball's in your court."

"Fair enough." Khai smirked and entered his code, allowing her to access his contacts which other than the vast phone numbers flagged for business purpose, were surprisingly slim. So she took a quick selfie, added her number to his favorite contacts, and handed it back to him. "All that's left to ask for the moment, is if you'd like to come back to my place? I live close."

"I'd like that." Mina curled her lips and took a step away, trying to pull him in with her eyes. "I'm going to go grab my coat-"

They both paused in wide eyed, horrific realization that Mamoru's bed had been the coat closet, and both Mamoru and Usagi were very much locked inside that room doing exactly what most newly engaged couples do. Khai cleared his throat and began patting his pockets. "Well I have my car since I came from the office but no keys to my apartment."

"And I… have the keys to my apartment but I'm going to freeze to death." Mina laughed a little nervously about the prospect of him coming over to her place, but it was better than the alternative of making the long walk home in the snow without her coat since Rei had been her ride. She'd carried a small crossbody purse with her solely for the purpose of keeping her keys, phone, and spare lipstick. Suddenly all too glad she didn't keep it with her coat. "So my place."

"It appears so" He agreed with the slightest quirk of his lip. His fingers slipped to the small of her back, carefully guiding her toward the door with a watchful eye so they could both sneak out the door and into the hallway before anyone could see them leave together.

There was no matter of shame, not for her, and certainly not for him the way he'd ravaged and practically fucked her in Mamoru's kitchen, something her heart hadn't quite yet settled down from. Mina was inclined to agree that even she wasn't ready to answer questions to anyone about how they met or what they meant to each other. They had yet to figure that out for themselves, but in the moment it was exciting to have such a secret, such private and intense chemistry with someone, and now there was time to explore it.

Mina giggled when his large warm hand enveloped hers and Khai pulled her into the elevator. The steel doors whirled shut and he held her there under his intense gaze while he shrugged out of his suit jacket and draped it over her shoulders, pulling her in, filling her senses with a familiar spicy and cool scent of cologne and soap. He wrapped it tightly around her like a cape, holding it closed to keep her warm while the elevator began to descend and as Mina gazed up into his unfairly beautiful eyes, feeling the fall that was certainly more than mechanical.

The elevator door dinged open and Khai kept his hand firm on her back to lead her while she pulled the thin blazer around her shoulders and braced herself for the first blast of wintery air when the doors of the building slid open to a perfect silent night. Snow still fell in fluttery showers of diamond dust and blanketed Tokyo with a pure and sparkling moonlight white, each breath billowing into the night as Khai walked her briskly toward his car. "You have your car keys?"

In response, he entered a code on a very small keypad on the door to an exceedingly expensive sports car, not suited for winter driving in the least, but he opened the passenger door for her and stepped aside for her to slip onto the freezing leather seat. "No keys needed."

Mina shivered and pulled the thin suit jacket tighter around her shoulders, dipping her nose down into it to inhale the scent and save her poor nose from freezing off. There was a screen, and so many knobs and buttons in this car that she almost thought she'd gotten into the Batmobile. Khai slipped into the driver's seat beside her, turning the car on with the press of a button, proceeding to flip on the heated seats, and turn up the heat with a visible shiver of his own.

"Thank you for the jacket." She said, watching while he rubbed his hands together for warmth while they waited for the windshield wipers to clear the snow gathered on the glass. He'd told her before how much he hated the cold, which was why normally he'd be barely tolerating his Step Father to spend the Winter in Dubai.

"You're worse off than me." He shot her a soul melting smirk, chuckling at her chattering teeth. "Where to?"

He let her plug her address into his GPS, and with a quickness Khai pulled out of the parking lot, gesturing toward another apartment building just a block away from where he lived, except of course he didn't have the key. Driving was slow, so Mina took the time to admire his profile flickering under the street lights while he kept a hard lock on the road with his eyes.

"I read that book last night." She admitted, shifting just slightly toward him in the seat. "I get it. I do think I understand you better but I wanted to ask you something about it."

"You read The Art of War, last night?" His brow raised, but he didn't move his eyes from the poorly plowed roads but unwrapped a peppermint candy he'd snagged at the party with one hand and popped it into his mouth, extending another to her. "As in, you read the entire thing in one night?"

"Don't sound so surprised." Mina smiled, biting her lip while unwrapping the candy and placing it on her tongue, discarding the wrapper into her small handbag.

His lip twitched as if he fought a smile. "Okay, what did you want to ask me?"

"If you approach everything like a battle, with perfect discipline, guard always up, don't you find yourself denying things you want? Things that might be good for you? I'm guilty of it too I guess but," At this she placed a wary hand on his thigh, feeling the muscle tense beneath her palm but he didn't tell her to stop, so she squeezed. "Don't you get tired of wanting?"

"I play things safe is all. I know what I'm walking into before I move forward. I understand how to keep things in my favor so if I need to, I can come out on top." Khai stopped her hand from trailing further inward on his thigh, lacing his fingers with hers instead. "Not everything is a fight, but it's best to be prepared for one."

"Mm, I like to be prepared too." She stated, turning her head to watch the snow blur passed the window through the dark while she savored the sweet peppermint candy of the warmth of his hand seeping into her palm.

It was the one night of the year that the city was so quiet, and mostly dark. The car was irritatingly silent aside from the occasional command from the GPS as Khai navigated through the snowy streets, but she'd catch him sneaking glances over at her under the streetlights as they passed while his thumb slowly traced absent circles on the back of her hand.

Such a simple and innocent motion that sent her heart racing, and stomach alive with butterflies. Mina told herself that the dull ache still raging between her thighs was nothing more than a lingering remnant of all that want and longing springing forward full force the moment she saw him again and combusting like a gas leak in the kitchen. Surely she wasn't so affected by the sweet but chaste motion of his thumb, except she couldn't stop imagining him touching her this way somewhere else.

There was something calculated, different about it from the night they met that was no less potent than their previously impatient thirst but restrained. Mina had never been a patient woman, and she felt that thirst just as vividly as she had back at that restaurant two months ago. The careful shift of his eyes, the methodical touch of his fingers showed her a restraint that hadn't been there that night, or even back in the kitchen, and she couldn't help but wonder if he was nervous or plotting. The mystery of Khai was all locked away in his stoicism and silence. It was enough that he could so easily unravel her with the slightest touch or glance, the anticipation of it all that Mina didn't know what he was thinking or feeling until he conveyed it in a subtle manner that made any of his actions so much more intense.

His fingers slid slowly over her palm when his hand released hers, pulling carefully into an unplowed spot near her apartment, proving a point with the subtle brush of his hand when he stole her away from her thoughts. Mina frowned at the prospect of leaving the warm leather seat and well heated car, a nervous pit forming among the anticipation boiling inside of her. She'd never brought a guy back to her place before.

"I can just drop you off if you'd prefer. I wouldn't want to make you uncomfortable."

Her eyes snapped through the darkness at him, meeting the kind of sincerity in his beautiful grey eyes that reminded her that somehow this was different. Sweet as his caution was, the idea of Khai spending the rest of his Christmas Eve locked out of his apartment, or being alone on Christmas became unbearable.

"Who else is going to keep me warm tonight?"

"Fair enough." Mina swore she saw the hint of a smile on his lips when he spoke, pressing the button once more to cut the engine. Cold seeped into the small car almost immediately save the lingering warmth from the seat, so she gathered her small handbag, pulled his blazer tight around her shoulders and followed suit when Khai got out of the car.

She lifted her face to gaze up into the dark sky while fat snowflakes caught in her hair and melted on her cheek, smiling when after a pause to grab his laptop bag Khai took her hand. His lips collided with hers when she turned to scold him that she would not be allowing him to work on Christmas, even if she understood the sentiment of not wanting to leave his computer in the freezing cold. It was light, sweet with a frosted taste of snow, and like every time he kissed her, Mina immediately forgot every word of the English language or that she had intended to say anything in the first place. Their breath mingled and lifted into the icy air when they parted with locked eyes. She smiled, squeezed his hand, and impatiently began pulling him toward the warmth of her building.

She rented the tiniest space above a shopping strip, a little embarrassing in comparison to the posh complex of luxury flats he'd pointed out on the way. Like Mamoru, Khai lived on the far nicer side of town, though if asked, Mina would hands down say she lived in the most charming. It was older, more artisan and historic with great shopping and only a short distance to Hikawa Shrine where Rei lived and only a few blocks away from Makoto's charming little cafe. Her heart was pounding as she slipped her key into the lock, stepping into the darkness of her apartment with a deep breath, hoping the place wasn't a disaster.

Casually, she tossed her keys onto a small glass table by the entrance with an ear jarring clatter, clicking on a small lamp that cast a dim atmospheric glow into the small space. She was all too aware of him behind her, the apartment feeling much smaller once she heard Khai close the door behind them and flip the lock. Bending to kiss her cheek, he carefully pulled the blazer from her shoulders, and by the way his grey eyes took her in he might as well have stripped her bare. "Want to give me the grand tour?"

"There isn't much to see." Mina admitted with a wry look, freezing in place at the sound of his voice, deep and husky in her ear.

"Humor me."

Mina shot him a look, a coy smile and took the jacket from his hands. With a few steps, she entered the tiny dining nook between the entrance and the kitchen, hanging the blazer on a hook along with the rest of her jackets, scarves, and spare purses. Otherwise, the only other fixture in the small space was a cafe table for two adorned with some fake glittery red poinsettias for the season. "Well, this would be the dining room, elegant I know."

"Charming." He commented, still rooted by the door with his hands in his pockets, watching her move slowly through the space with the hint of a smile in his eyes.

The dining room lead into the kitchen, which was more like the size of a short hallway, that had an opening with a view to the living room between the cabinets and countertop where the sink was. Tiny, but full of colorful hand towels and kitschy mugs that Mina thought were charming. She giggled despite the few dishes left in the sink from the morning and made a dramatic gesture likened to one of those game show assistants in a loud sparkly dress. "Kitchen is through here, and it's not much but obviously that is the living room."

"I like it." Her breath caught, feeling his fingers trail down her arms, her back meeting his chest when he moved even closer, her heart thudding hard against her ribcage as he followed her deeper into the living room. She liked to consider her decor something along the lines of shabby chic, and the hardwood and exposed brick helped that along, but the space was so small she only had a loveseat for two with a raised bay window behind it and a magazine cluttered glass coffee table. There was still a tiny bookshelf under her wall mounted TV, mostly housing her expansive music selection, trashy manga, and favorite romance novels but that was about it with the exception of some nicknacks and cute pieces of art. She felt his fingers squeeze into her hips to place her flush against his chest, roaming his hands up the curves of her sides and ribcage.

Mina turned in his arms, placing her palms on his chest with a meek little shrug and smiled. "It's a little messy, but it's home."

"It suits you." Khai coughed a little, frowning at the varying implications his reply had. Mina figured that this must be what it was like when he was flustered, the tensing of his lips and probably the only occasion so far where he averted his eyes from hers."You know what I mean."

"I think I do." She fought the urge to laugh and lowered her voice to mock him. "But you're always so serious, it's hard to tell sometimes."

Khai rolled his eyes, making up for his mild awkwardness with a surprisingly sexy glare. His eyes softened and Mina leaned into his touch when he palmed her cheek. "You know most of the mundane details about me now, my job, my friends…"

"Your battle tactics." She interjected, pressing her lips to the pad of his thumb when it ran gently across her bottom lip.

"Even so, I need you to know that I would never say or do anything to make you feel bad. Not on purpose."

"I know." Mina met his eyes with purpose, not needing to search for his sincerity too hard. It was one of the few times she'd been able to read the emotions in them. She found it a little harder to breathe, her heart beating rapidly. She felt safe with him. "Don't ask me how I know, but I do. You wouldn't hurt me, not on purpose."

She lifted her chin at the command of his fingers as he bent to catch her lips with his. It was something warm and slow that she inhaled deeply, sweet when his palm cupped her cheek. It was different now, patient and real because he was no longer just some beautiful stranger, and she wanted to disappear inside of the warmth that came when his lips moved skillfully with her own. It spilled into the grey of his eyes when they parted and instead of letting the heat of it all carry them away as it was known to, Khai brushed his thumb over her cheek and gestured with his eyes toward a small table near her TV housing an equally tiny tree. "It's almost midnight, what do you say we light the tree?"

She could tell he said it more for her than himself, but Mina couldn't help but smile at the suggestion. "I should make some hot chocolate first."

Khai immediately groaned, bringing a hand to his stomach with a pleading look. "I'm not sure I can handle it."

"Fiiiiine. I have some ginger tea if you'd prefer that. It might help." The muscles of his stomach tensed under her fingers when she slipped her hands down his chest to rest low on his abdomen, watching the bob of his throat when he swallowed while she reveled in the feeling of each defined muscle under her fingers through the fabric.

"I guess this is a perfect time to tell you that ginger is my favorite tea. Thank you."

Mina beamed, feeling somehow more at ease with each new tiny detail he divulged about himself down to these little things that were somehow more meaningful, more personal, that revealed more and more common ground. "It's mine too, but hot chocolate is the tradition, so tea for you and more chocolate for me." In a nervous habit, she bit her bottom lip before stepping away from this game of restraint they seemed to be playing, smiling while she headed back toward the kitchen with a wave of her hand. "Make yourself at home."

Mina was vaguely aware of Khai moving slowly around her apartment through the space between the cabinets and sink while she prepared her little orange kettle by the dim light above her stove. He was assessing the art on her walls, her collection of random CDs, smutty reading selection, and the few nick-knacks she kept. To distract herself, Mina began rummaging through her cabinets in search of a less decorative mug for him, opting for a plain white mug with a large, simple red heart on it. Being Christmas and all, Mina broke into the cute container of fancy hot chocolate Usagi had given her and began searching the other cabinets for the tea with a muttered reminder to get better organized in the new year. In the background, the sounds of romantic violin and piano music wafted softly on the air. Mina recognized it immediately as the duette album Michiru had recorded with Haruka the year they got married, and couldn't help but smile about his choice.

"Hey, Khai," She called, the already small kitchen becoming much tinier when he entered the small space, lingering in the entrance. Mina scowled up at the top shelf where Makoto had placed the ginger tea last time she was over, playing nurse while she'd been sick. Or hungover. "Not to play a damsel in distress, but my Amazonian friend apparently forgets that not everyone is ten feet tall-"

He was already behind her, his proximity alone interrupting her thought with his chest brushing her back as he reached over her head to select the white ceramic container generically labeled 'Tea.' A smirk tugged at his lips when she turned around to accept it, making sure to brush her fingers over his en route to place it on the counter. He was so close she could smell the peppermint on his breath, and against the black fabric of his shirt, his hair looked like freshly fallen snow, a gentle teasing in his stormy eyes. "And what would you have done if I wasn't here?"

Mina giggled, leaning back against the counter to gaze up at him in blatant admiration. "I would have climbed this counter like a savage and cursed Makoto's name, but I didn't feel like it was very lady-like in this short dress, and I could have been hurt in these heels getting back down. I guess I'm lucky my hero was here." She lifted her chin a bit more to brush her nose against his, curling her fingers into his shirt to pull him ever so slightly closer. "How can I ever repay him?"

"I'm sure we can come up with some sort of arrangement." Mina inhaled a breath through her lips, feeling his fingers lightly brushing her thighs between the short skirt and the striped stockings that came up over her knees. It was so restrained, the way he touched her, opting to rest his hands on her hips, the self-restraint very apparent in his eyes.

"What do you want?" She found herself whispering, sifting her fingers through his silver locks and curling them around the back of his neck to pull Khai close enough to brush her tongue against his upper lip. If he didn't kiss her, and really _kiss_ her, she thought she might combust. Until they both did.

"I think you know what I want." He practically growled, lifting Mina onto the counter while she sank and drowned into his ravenous mouth, her desirous moan stifled by his insistent tongue. All at once it was as if they'd just met, her fingers in his hair, leading his hand from the cheek resting in his palm down her chest to cup her breast. Her legs wound around his hips, head thrown back against one of the cabinets as his mouth, hot and desperate moved down her neck, kissing, tasting, pulling in. His hands ran up her thighs where her skit had ridden up around her hips, fingers squeezing the fleshy muscle as he whispered against her fevered skin. "I want more."

Mina gripped his shirt to pull his lips back to hers, flexing her hips into his and drinking in his guttural groan when his groin rubbed intentionally into the apex of her thighs. Clothes needed to go. Of course, the moment she'd managed to get two more buttons open on his shirt, there was an ear blistering squeal that sounded off just beside them. She jumped initially, rolling her eyes with a groan of frustration and accidentally slamming her head back against the cabinet with a bit too much force. "Ow…."

Khai chuckled, reaching to pull the kettle from the burner and turn it off, slipping his fingers through her hair to caress where she hit her head. Mina pouted rather visibly, grateful, but pleading with her eyes while both of them tried to catch their breath. She felt her insides melt at the half smile that tugged at the corner of his lips revealing that dimple in his cheek, and there was a gentle knowingness in his eyes that understood her apparent frustration. His own was seated much lower, bulging against his unforgiving slacks. Khai's hand slipped back down to cup her cheek, glancing briefly at the clock on the stove. "I do want more, after tonight. I don't want this to be all we have."

"Khai…" He cut her off with another kiss, slowly withdrawing, his smirk turning all the more deviant with that gleam in his eye.

"Think of it as payback."

"Payback?" Her brow raised and Mina was certain her pouting intensified as Khai stepped away from her to exit back into the living room. He chuckled at this while she slipped slowly back down off the counter and began the task of straightening out her skirt.

"You should have called."

She groaned loudly, ignoring the first real, audible laugh she'd ever heard from him and pretended it wasn't charming. He couldn't see her grin as she poured the hot water into mugs to steep his tea while she mixed her hot chocolate and added marshmallows to the tune of the romantic violin that had begun to sound more like her pity party. It was only a couple of minutes till midnight, and Mina began to wonder if he'd planned the interruption, but if the quivering in his hands had been anything to go by it was likely just happenstance. She hadn't noticed how weak her knees were until she tried following him into the living room with the two steaming mugs in her hands.

"Want to do the honors?" Mina stepped passed him to place the mugs on the coffee table, nestling on the loveseat to remove her somewhat painful heels. Khai turned out the light and checked his watch, letting her countdown to midnight before he pressed the switch that turned on the lights for her miniature fiber optic tree. She and Makoto had made all kinds of small ornaments for the thing over the years, and while it was bittersweet to break their many traditions, it felt nice to possibly make new ones.

He joined her on the loveseat, following suit to remove his shoes before falling back against the cushion with an almost relieved sigh. Mina watched the faint light of a snowy winters night reflect in his silver hair from the window behind them while the dim multi-colored light shifted by the tree casting a dream-like quality throughout the small living space. He handed her her mug, taking his for himself before sitting back, seeming to finally relax. "You know in my country, Christmas isn't commonly celebrated. It is a time of preparation for the New Year in Istanbul, which is my favorite holiday. My Mother only recently took to decorating and celebrating Christmas when she moved to Dubai."

"I hadn't thought about it." She replied honestly, watching the colors on her meager tree shift and change, letting the heat seep into her palms through her festive ceramic mug. "I suppose that does make sense. What's your favorite part of New Years?"

Khai watched her a moment while she sipped the chocolaty sweet drink. It reminded her of the restaurant, the way he appeared so aloof but so attentive. "New beginnings. What's your favorite part about Christmas?"

Mina felt the heat rise to her cheeks, shifting toward him to curl her legs beneath her, nestling the warm drink in her lap. "Makoto is the only other one of my friends that doesn't have any family, so we made a pact to spend it together every year. We would decorate cookies and watch sappy romantic holiday movies, light the tree at midnight with hot chocolate and exchange gifts. Well, she met Nigel as you know, and the rest is history. I'm just so glad she's happy."

She hadn't realized how quiet her voice had gotten, how distant. Khai seemed to remember something then, setting his mug down after a long drink of his tea.

"That reminds me." Mina blinked, watching him stand and clear the room in a few steps to rummage through his laptop bag. When he returned there was an aged, worn envelope in his hand which he extended to her as he sat back down. "I got this for your birthday actually, but seeing as you didn't contact me, I held onto them with the hope our paths would cross again. It's only fitting that it's now. Merry Christmas, Mina."

Shooting Khai a teasing glare, Mina took the envelope and opened the loose flap, pulling out two insanely good, long sold out tickets for Dreamcatcher and immediately setting down her hot chocolate before she dumped it everywhere. "I… but you...you said you hate this kind of music…"

"Well, since I bored you to death that night, and that morning ended so abruptly, I figured I had better give you an exciting date. I can stomach the music, expand my horizons a little if it means that I get to see you happy."

"Khai... oh my gosh, THANK YOU SO MUCH!" Mina propelled forward and tackled him into the cushion behind him, wrapping her arms around his neck. She buried her face in his hair, inhaling that desert night scent of spices and cool waters and trying not to freak out like the total fangirl she was, or get emotional. Heck, she was grateful that he even thought of her at all, everything becoming far more real with the notion that he had been planning for a future date. That as she held him and his arms enveloped her, the lines between them blurred a bit more intimately and Mina realized she was more grateful for his time. The time he spent thinking about her and searching for her, the time he'd set aside for her, on a date in their future to do something she knew he normally wouldn't want to do, for her. "Thank you for spending Christmas with me."

"There's nowhere else I'd rather be."

"OH! That reminds me!" She gingerly placed the envelope on the table, hopping off the couch and out of his arms leaving Khai confused by the outburst behind her. There was a singular present wrapped under her tree, easy to overlook if you weren't searching for it, and Mina clutched it to her chest, and rushed back to the loveseat, falling on her knees in the cushions beside him, beaming. "Mine isn't quite as extravagant, but I thought of you." Something softer passed behind his eyes which mirrored in her voice as she placed the package gently in his hands. "I thought about you a lot."

He eyeballed the thing a moment, taking it and of course, being so careful not to tear the paper when he unwrapped the gift. It was a special, leatherbound edition of 'The Art of War,' and the utterly heart melting smile that tugged at his lips made Mina immediately regret not calling, or storming that closed office building until she found him. With a smile like that, there was no way she'd stand a chance against a secret weapon like that. "It's funny to me that you chose this because I believe the housekeeper at Hotel Century thought my copy was garbage and threw it out, or it got lost in the move. I haven't seen it since that morning. Thank you."

"To be fair, yours looked like it had taken enough abuse. It was probably begging for a swift death. I thought a leather-bound one might be harder for you to mangle so much."

"Challenge accepted."

Mina giggled into another long sip of the warm, sweet chocolatey drink when his smile broadened and she felt heat flare into her face, but she kept his eyes locked with hers because how dare he have the audacity to make her blush. "How is your stomach?"

"I think I'll survive." Khai raised his mug and took a drink himself, placing the book on the coffee table beside it. Silence hung thick and warm in the air, and she gazed with contentment out the window while the world continued to become softly blanketed with snow, humming to the melody of the violin harmony to one of her favorite songs. It was the most beautiful Christmas they'd gotten in a while, and while Mina wasn't particularly fond of the cold herself, she loved the way the snow looked. Khai had been watching her, the smile fading from his lips but not his eyes and the back of his hand trailed down her chilled arm, the soft touch gathering her attention. "Are you cold?"

"Only a little. My apartment doesn't stay too warm thanks to the way my bedroom is set up." She flushed with the realization that she hadn't shown him the rest of the house. Along the same wall to the kitchen, there were two more doors. Khai was a smart man so she figured he could deduce which one was which, but Mina gestured toward her bedroom door anyway. "My room has french doors for windows. They don't go anywhere, and they're charming until it's cold outside. Keeps the place drafty but warm enough. At least there's a private entrance to the bathroom too. That's the other door if you need it."

"I see." He offered, but she noticed he didn't seem to be paying much attention to what she was saying. Instead, he studied her, his pale eyes addressing her hair that had fallen over her shoulder, and for a moment she thought maybe some chocolate or marshmallow had gathered at the corner of her lips until his stare fixed into her own. Wordlessly, Khai reached for her by wrapping a hand around her waist, urging Mina onto his lap so she straddled his thighs. She giggled, looking down at his mostly serious expression while he rubbed his hands up and down her goosebumped arms. "I did promise to keep you warm."

"I feel better already." She mused while his arms constricted and pulled her against his broad chest and Mina felt warm, she lost herself in his ashen eyes and felt safe. Her fingers slipped under his partially opened shirt just to touch his smooth skin, warm to the touch yet the contact raised goosebumps along the flesh. Khai drew in a breath, slow and deep, but not unnoticed by Mina who felt the same every time he so much as looked at her. Affected by his every touch or glance, part of her undoing the night they met, feeding her bold and reckless actions. She shifted up higher on his thighs until her skirt rode up and her core nestled just at his groin, watching his jaw clench and set, and his grey eyes darken.

"Mina I…" She pressed her finger against his lips to hush him and leaned forward until her forehead rested on his.

"This isn't all we have Khai, and there is plenty of time for the rest. If you want." Her eyes darted between his, shifting her touch along the strong line of his jaw. "I just don't think I can be near you and not want you. It's intense. It's scary." She admitted quietly, honestly. Peering with wide and unwavering blue eyes into his grey ones, Mina continued what she started back in the kitchen. "I know you can feel it too."

Lightly, she fluttered her lips against his, hands sliding down his chest to very slowly keep working at the buttons of his shirt. She gasped into him, parting her lips with a demanding tongue to taste him further, pulling a ragged breath from his lips when her task was done and she could slide her hands up along the groves and muscles of his stomach and chest. He could have scalded her with the look in his eyes when they parted, and Khai nipped her bottom lip between his teeth as if to prove his point.

"And I knew from the moment I saw you that I wanted you." Mina's eyes rolled as his lips caressed and moved back toward her ear. She bit her lip hard and buried her fingers into thick strands of silver, rolling her hips into his just to feel the heat of his breathing against the lobe. "I knew I'd crave the way you taste, the smell of your perfume…I knew I needed to know you" The soft whimper escaped her lips without her permission when Khai lapped his tongue lightly along her neck, sucking lightly at that spot just below her ear that made her crazy. "You took me off guard, and I haven't found my footing since."

He inhaled a sharp breath when Mina ground against him, sliding his hands up her thighs beyond her stockings to caress her ass and hips with kneading fingers. Humming her approval, she rubbed herself against him again, feeling the beginnings of his arousal brush against her through her flimsy underwear with a knowing smirk. "Good to know I'm not the only one falling."

Khai groaned as she moved again, something hopeful and almost pleading passing behind those steely eyes before she could pull him into a deep and purposeful kiss, curling her fingers through his hair, writhing her sodden heat into his tenting slacks in search relief that wouldn't come. She met his gaze with furrowed brows, gasping at the feeling of him between her legs, his breath against her neck when she tilted her head back in an invitation he gladly accepted.

Mina was only vaguely aware of her dress loosening around her shoulders when he slowly lowered the zipper. She was too busy reeling from his sinful mouth probably leaving purple marks down her neck, too busy trying to breathe through her gasping and moaning that she'd long lost control of. Khai made it hard though, the way he drew her in, running his fingertips up her spine so lightly between the zipper, brushing the backs of her shoulder blades until the straps slipped over her shoulders.

She gracefully slinked backward from the warmth of his lap to stand in front of him, letting the cooler air wash over her skin as the dress flittered to the floor. Khai touched her with his eyes the way he slowly took her in as though it was the first time seeing her, roving over her body with an intensity that made her ache. Mina was glad she'd had the foresight to put on the adorable white lace underwear set with red bows on it for the Christmas party because it matched her candy cane kiss costume and it looked killer, and festive, with those striped thigh highs. She was quickly learning that the stockings really seemed to do it for him. Khai licked his lips and leaned forward, bringing her back toward him to trace the curve of her sides and hips with his hands before he pulled Mina back onto his lap.

She gazed down into his deepened grey eyes a moment, biting her lip when his hands gathered her breasts with a light squeeze, a low growl rumbling in his throat when she rocked herself forward onto his cock, fully strained against his slacks. A sharp gasp breathed between her lips when her clit met the throbbing flesh through too many layers of fabric, and it was too much for her to handle any longer. Mina wove her fingers into his hair, moving forward to slam her lips over his, moaning louder when his tongue brushed hers, the fingers of both of his hands curling into the flesh of her ass to pull her against his erection.

Soon, she was writhing, whimpering helplessly into his mouth with each gentle gyration that took her one step closer to ruining his slacks with how wet he was making her with his hands alone. Khai sat forward just slightly, taking a bit of the pressure off of himself and forcing another thoughtless moan from her when his mouth traveled toward her neck to pull in her thundering pulse. His fingers sifted through her hair, pulling it to one side, her cute lacy bra loosening around her chest when he managed to get the clasps undone.

Mina sat back, relishing the burning heat of his eyes before his fingers hooked into the straps, sliding them down her arms to free her breasts. His mouth was starved against her skin, kissing, tasting, sucking the skin down her neck and chest as the bra came away from her feverish skin to tighten and pebble in the cooler air. Khai tossed it to the cushion beside them, lips swollen and breathless while she wet her lips, releasing his hair to slide her hands down his chest, pushing the pillowy roundness of her chest together with purpose while she worked on the buckle of his belt with a cunning smirk.

"You have the most beautiful body." He uttered breathily, shifting his hips while Mina pulled the belt from around his waist only to drop it on the floor with a soft clinking sound on the rug. He physically shuttered when her hand cupped his groin, tight and hot to the touch, it rattled dangerously from his lips against her own. When she went to relieve him from some of that pressure, Khai grabbed her wrists before she could so much as unbutton his slacks, leaning her back so her hands supported her weight on his knees.

"What are you waiting for?" Mina could scarcely gasp the way he lifted her breasts to his mouth, tongue lapping and circling over the sensitive pink peaks forced upward by her position. Her hands tensed further on his legs, holding on for dear life while he sought to test her very limited patience. Her skin on fire, her every cell screaming with want, begging for more.

"In a hurry?" He whispered low between the valley of her breasts, bringing a large hand over her hip, dipping his thumb beneath the elastic of her underwear. Mina canted her hips the best she could, inhaling sharply when his thumb dipped low enough, parting her already drenched folds to firmly circle her clit. "That what you wanted?"

"I want…." The thought died with the sharp bite of pleasure that she felt quiver in her thighs, a breathless moan spilling from her lips like her hair that tumbled toward the floor in curtains of gold as she threw her head back, his thumb dipping lower toward her entrance to gather from the pooling moisture, slipping forward to continue making slow circles around the tight bundle of nerves that Mina tried to quicken with the movement of her hips.

Khai urged her to sit up, she hadn't realized how much her arms were shaking from holding up her weight, but his thumb was still there, pressing and rubbing her slowly, firmly, when he pulled her into a deep kiss. It was slow, almost in tandem with the motions around her clit currently inching her toward a madness that Mina wasn't quite prepared for. She whimpered when he stopped, slipping his hand up around the curve of her waist, those familiarly dark and stormy eyes meeting hers to whisper a very deep, very sexy: "Tell me what you want."

Mina slid back off of his hips to stand very slowly, not relieving him from the full-on desire in her eyes when she took his hands in hers and pulled him to his feet. Her hands roved over his stomach, his chest, slipping under his loose shirt to slowly pull it from his strong arms and Khai shrugged from it, let it fall nearly silently to the floor behind him without breaking his gaze from hers. The look in his eyes was damn near predatory, somehow adding a thickness to the air that weighed on her chest and stole her breath in anticipation of what was to come.

His skin was warm, smooth to the touch, a beautiful creamy tan shade she couldn't help but admire against her admittingly pale complexion in her journey to feel back up his chest, over his shoulders, and down his arms to take his much larger hands in hers. Mina lead him slowly backward toward her room, lips curled in a teasing smirk at his apparent hunger blazing in his darkened eyes and bulging in his pants when she realized he couldn't stop looking at her. Her thigh highs were a bit mussed, one falling lower than the other, her hair probably wild the way his fingers had been weaving through it, a symptom of her swollen, well kissed lips and skin marked with purple bruises.

Her back hit the cool surface of the bedroom door, her breasts pressing into the firm wall of his chest when Khai took their linked hands and pinned her, rough and gentle all at once the way his thumbs slid over her palms. His kiss was gentle, the soft movement of his lips against hers, tongue sweet and teasing, and so good Mina thought she'd dissolve into a giant puddle of want.

"Tell me." He demanded in soft brushes against her mouth, watching in that intense way he had about him while she wordlessly answered his command by pulling her hands from his grasp and lowering the zipper on his slacks.

"Maybe I'd rather show you." Mina whispered, wrapping her arms around him to caress his back, feeling him shiver slightly from the light fluttering of her fingers on his skin as they trailed down beneath the waistband of his slacks, forcing them down off of his hips. She felt Khai inhale when her fingers curled into the firm, cotton clad muscle of his ass, kissing her way down his torso as she slowly dropped to her knees in a confrontation of his unbelievable body.

Her fingers curled into the waistband of his slacks, already scarcely hanging from his hips, but they came down easy at her command. Khai leaned forward on his hands against the door, silver hair falling forward though she knew he was watching her as he stepped out of his pants, kicking them gently behind him while Mina traced those divets in his hips and toyed with the elastic on his very strained boxer briefs. Khai whispered her name, but she didn't listen, coming up on her knees to press her lips against his cock through the dark cotton, pulling the sexiest deep groan from him as it twitched against her mouth. She trailed her teasing kisses up the somewhat intimidating length toward his hip, cupping the softer parts with her hand to reward herself with the erotic melody of his ragged breaths and strained growls. He moaned louder when her teeth and tongue grazed the obvious head of his cock pressed hard against his hip as she rose to her feet between his arms, aggressively pulling his lips to hers.

Mina whimpered helplessly into the kiss, starving and deep, both trying to catch the air through their noses while she fumbled to the doorknob of her room. They tumbled inside clumsily, but with some sort of grace as Khai fell onto the bed with her, encumbering her body with his familiar weight pressing her into the mattress. The scent of his shampoo and spicy cologne she'd taken home with her that night, the heat of his lips and tongue against her skin like a memory she'd been longing to relive countless times over the past couple of months.

She gasped, fingers tensing in his hair when his hips rolled against hers, grinding himself into her underwear, now soaked through as a testament to her positively aching arousal because he felt _so good, _but Mina was getting increasingly more impatient with the fabric between them. Her back arched into the sensation, hips moving in time to his until he groaned against her lips, her body reeling from the loss of contact when he pulled away.

"Not so fast." Khai growled breathlessly against her neck, his mouth slowly trailing downward. Her eyes rolled, groaning frustration against her lip bitten perhaps too hard between her teeth when he pulled one of her nipples into his mouth, tongue mercilessly massaging the pebbled bud.

"Don't make me beg." She whimpered, feeling his smile against her skin, humming again when his teeth nipped at her neck. Mina wasn't above begging.

"At this rate, I'll come too fast, and that won't do." He uttered breathily into her ear.

"I don't mind." She moaned out, truly at the brink of madness herself. Mina wouldn't have cared if he came the moment he was inside of her, certain she'd fall apart just as quickly.

"I promised I'd make you pay." He planted a final kiss to her cheek and continued his slow descent down her body until he was slipping off of the bed. "I promised, I'd take my time, and if I focus on you…" Then he could calm his body down enough to outlast her, though if memory served her well enough, his stamina had been just fine back at that hotel, impressive even. "then I'll get to see you, hear you, taste you, _feel_ you come."

"Fuck…" She moaned, brows furrowed and fingers curling into the blankets under her. Khai sucked lightly on the flesh just above her hip, his own fingers slipping into the elastic of her underwear to expose her overheated, soaked flesh to the drafty air as he pulled them from her hips. One look into those expressive, deep grey eyes told her he was about to make her feel every moment of those absent two months, watching him pull the flimsy white underwear down her legs with care to not disturb her thigh-length stockings.

Eyes locked on hers, Khai ran his tongue through the opening of her damp lips once with a low groan, pulling her forward for a better angle as Mina spread her legs wider, canting her hips in invitation. He ran his fingertips along her thighs, supporting her legs on his shoulders by wrapping his arms around her legs and began to touch her, tease her with light circles around her clit that had her moaning against her bit lip to stifle some of her desperate whimperings. He swept his tongue through her folds again, adding to the gathered moisture with a low moan of his own, his breath further teasing against her wet flesh when he spoke. "I love the way you taste."

His mouth clamped and moved over her mound, sucking with merciless flicks of his tongue over the sensitive bundle of nerves without time for her to berate him for stalling. Some obscenity gasped from her mouth before she forgot how to form words and Mina threw her head back against the blankets. He knew what he was doing, the light teasing into an intensity that made up everything about him. Khai didn't stop her from burying her fingers into his hair, soft and thick in her fingers. He didn't stop her from moving her hips to meet the insatiable movements of his mouth. She might have watched him devour her completely if she had a mind to, but he'd stolen that the moment his tongue dipped inside of her.

Relishing the low and measured moans that rumbled through his throat and vibrated through her, the delicious noises created by his tongue lapping at her swollen center punctuated by the most exquisitely intense waves of pleasure. He could control it to some degree. Bringing her down when he felt her slipping toward the edge only to bring her back to the brink of madness until not even he could control the pleasure pulsing through her.

He didn't stop when she came, and she did so in a mixture of incoherent curses and something that sounded like his name. It came on before she was ready, all of that stimulation from his overworked mouth coming to a head, exploding and spreading through her limbs like wildfire in her blood and he kept going until she couldn't tell if she'd stopped coming or if he was somehow keeping her in a constant state of euphoria. Khai held her down while she writhed and convulsed in the throes of release, pressing on her abdomen just above her mound to keep her from moving which really only made the ordeal more intense, a fact he probably knew.

"Mercy!" Mina begged, gasping, tugging at his hair with a half desperate laugh when she found herself prey to an insatiable pleasure that was too much and not enough at the same time. She needed him inside of her to fill that want, to satisfy the ache that Khai only fueled with his generous attention. He relented and sat back on his knees to catch his breath, standing from his crouched position on the floor to finally let her touch him when she gathered enough senses to sit up and do so. Biting her lip, she gazed up into those familiar grey eyes, darkened and ravenous, as he watched her crawl on her knees toward him on the bed. Her fingers ran down the definition in his chest and stomach, not stopping when she reached the elastic of his underwear. "Are you done punishing me?"

"Are you sorry?" He quipped breathlessly, lips quirking on one side as Mina came up on her knees to be almost level with his height.

"You know I am." She whispered, gazing longingly into his eyes and tracing his lips with her fingers, reaching with a free hand to caress the strained bulge still contained in a pair of dark boxer briefs. Mina bit her lip, slipping her fingers under the elastic to slowly begin pulling them down off of his hips. "I've made you wait long enough, don't you think?"

"I would have waited longer."

"I don't want to wait anymore." Mina whispered, craning her neck to place a brief kiss to his mouth, drinking the sigh that panted against her lips as her cool fingers wrapped around the hot girth of his cock. As intended, the flesh was firm and soft, not completely void of arousal but she felt him grow harder in her palm hinting that Khai was quite done waiting as well, but it was her turn to taste him.

She lowered down on her knees, sitting on her feet and leaning forward to finish pulling his underwear down his legs until they fell to the floor. Not that she paid much attention to anything else with his heartbeat evidently pulsing in the thick length of him now freed from its cotton prison. A curse panted softly from his lips when she wrapped her fingers around the base of him, watching his jaw strain in tandem with his cock as her tongue dragged up toward the tip, so she could pull the swollen head into her mouth. Mina moaned at the taste of his salty skin, the way he grew firmer, thicker, as she began to stroke the flesh with her mouth.

"Slower." He whispered, a touch of passion he didn't normally have in his voice kissing the tone. She slowed her strokes and lifted her eyes, feeling the light touch of his fingers on her face while she delighted in the struggle to fit his sizeable length into her mouth, sliding her tongue over veins and nerves that made him twitch and pulse in her hand. Mina loved watching the tension on his brow, how he'd bite his lip sometimes like she did when it became too much. That alone had her so shamefully wet that she could feel it seep onto her thighs.

Selfishly, Mina pulled him from her mouth, placing a wet kiss on the head of his slick cock. She didn't want to get carried away with herself, thinking it would be too big of a shame if she were to ruin his promise. Taking his hand, she pulled him back onto the mattress on his knees where Khai immediately pulled her into a deep, hungry kiss. She could taste their mingled arousal on their tongues, burying her fingers into the thick silver of his hair to pull him deeper, moaning into it as they fell back on the bed together.

"Be gentle," She whispered against his neck, "I haven't… not since you."

"Same." He admitted, rolling her onto her back, surrounding her with a curtain of silver and a softer gaze that made the soft kiss to follow send her heart thundering in her throat. She brought her legs up around his lower back as Khai deepened the kiss with a pleased rumbling in his throat when her hips canted against his cock, slipping, and rubbing the thick length between her slick folds.

Mina gasped against his lips when the swollen head of him pressed against her clit, rubbing between them at the mercy of his hips. She pleaded up into his eyes with hers, forcing a throaty growl from his throat when she reached between them to position his rigid length perfectly at her entrance. Khai needed no further instruction to press into her, a careful motion of his hips that had her legs tightening around him, gasping into his neck as she pulled him into her silken depths, rolling her hips into his just to feel him fill her so completely she could scarcely breathe. When she did, it came out as a moan.

His pace was kept steady, allowing Mina to grip the back of his neck, running her lips along the rough line of his jaw, kissing down his throat to pull his pulse into her mouth. She relished the familiar spicy scent of him, the salt from his skin, and the moan it pulled from him between her own vocalized appreciations. She tried her best to move with him, letting her body stretch and acclimate to his size, as he filled her and stroked her so perfectly that she joined him in a pleasured moan, biting his earlobe in the process so she could vocalize just how incredible he felt.

Khai was definitely not a vocal lover but she enjoyed finding new buttons to push, how his hips stuttered into hers when she bit his shoulder, gasped out for more, and he shifted to deliver it. Her nails marked his back as he plunged deeper, his hands curling into the blankets beside her head while he gazed down at her in observation, breathing harshly through parted lips, just as she observed him. The lust drunk frenzy that took over was natural, full of all that time he thought they should make up for, longing stares and desperate lips, hungry for deep kisses.

Mina pushed Khai onto his back, raking her nails down his chest without missing a beat of movement, watching his normally so stoic features shift under the intensity of her control. His tense brows and unwavering grey eyes, controlled breaths panting from his parted lips as she so methodically stroked his cock into her gripping heat. She rode a little harder, trying to pull more from him with deep strokes because god he was so sinfully gorgeous, and attentive with his hands and fingers, and when he moaned it was the most erotic sound she'd ever heard.

His hips moved sharply beneath her, burying himself deeper, palming her breasts, peddled and taught despite the sweat that quickly sheened their skin. Mina bent down to kiss him, pulling him as deep as she could, rubbing her clit against his pubic bone which proved to be a mistake because she almost came right then and there. It was worth it the way he moaned louder into her mouth, cursing and digging his fingers into her ass, fucking her harder from below. Mina never knew what hit her.

As their first time, Khai sat up to cling to her, his tongue lapping a bead of sweat that had begun to trail down her neck, moaning his appreciation into her ear in the form of her own name. She could feel it building in her thighs, curling her toes long before she was ready, but she made a point to replicate his undoing from before by slowing her motions to make sure he felt every motion of her hips. He didn't stop her, but she could feel his fingers tense against her skin, a breathy curse into her ear because each long, deep stroke was a muscle trembling, drawn out wave of pleasure that was certain to destroy them both.

Her pace quickened naturally, still slow, but steady and fevered and when Khai's lips parted to speak she quickly covered his mouth, losing herself to the cresting tension that brought a new tone to her louder, pitched moans. Kissing her palm, Mina clung to him thoughtlessly, euphoria spreading to her limbs and all at once she began falling apart, pulsing violently around him until it all exploded, bringing Khai immediately along with her.

The tension on his face was so different, beautiful, when he came, all firm hands and clenched eyes when he spilled into her with sputtering hips, and she watched him fall apart in a way she didn't think he was capable of. Mina was no better the way she arched into him, gasping while her trembling limbs tried to cling to him for any sense of solidarity, only to realize that he was holding on to her all the same. They collapsed on the mattress together, boneless, breathing, and locked together by the groin all messy and beautiful.

"Wow…" He uttered, wrung out and trying to catch his breath. Mina lifted her eyes to his, locked onto her ceiling, his fingers absently tracing the curve of her hip.

"So anytime I want you to punish me, I should disappear for two months?" She mused, bringing clarity to his eyes and amusement to his lips. Khai raised his brow scoldingly, but Mina was getting good, she could see that subtle teasing.

"Don't you dare."

"Well," She sat up, planting a soft kiss to his lips. "You'll have to wait at least long enough for me to shower."

"No longer than that then. Unless you'd like some company."

"Sure. If you have the stamina." Mina winked, slipping off the bed with care. She shot him a come-hither glance over her shoulder, that had him scrambling off the bed after her. The room was comically small, and her bed took up the majority of it, so needless to say, she didn't get far.

* * *

Khai jarred awake at the shrill sound of the fire alarm, the smell of something burning, and several exasperated curses sang out from the kitchen. In his disorientation, he struggled a moment to remember where he was, and amidst the chaos locked eyes with a white cat perched patiently where an exceptionally gorgeous blonde should have been. It glared with the most judgemental green eyes he'd ever seen, so Khai glared back, swearing the cat sneered at him when he reached to pet it. More clamoring in the kitchen caused the furry beast to run off into the living space where more obscenities were heard as the high pitched sound cut off into silence.

Light filtered into the tiny, chic little apartment through the bay window in the living room and illuminated her bedroom through the thinly curtained french doors. The scent of coffee hit him somewhere under the burnt smell, finally encouraging him to stand and at least seek out his boxer briefs. An icy draft hit him when he took a moment to peek outside, met with a blinding vision of the sun reflecting off of a thick blanket of white. Khai shivered, rubbing his arms for warmth as he staggered to make a pit stop in the cluttered and very orange bathroom before shuffling out into the living space to make sure Mina wasn't in the process of burning down the entire building.

The kitchen was a disaster, but he couldn't help but linger, admiring the very flustered girl scrambling around in the small space. She'd managed to not trigger smoke detector again, but there was about half a loaf of burnt french toast piled in the garbage, several eggshells, and a concerning amount of powdered sugar floating through the air. She'd posted the concert tickets to her fridge by a happy face magnet, sending memories of the previous night tugging happily at his lips while he watched her genuinely try making him breakfast with such captivation. That tiny kitchen might as well have become his entire world.

Her blonde hair was piled up in a messy bun, tendrils of gold framing her face in addition to the fringe that framed her light blue eyes. A huge light blue baggy sweater fell over one shoulder, paired with some matching woolen thigh highs warmed her legs. Remnants of the previous night's eyeliner still accented her eyes though her face had been scrubbed clean. Khai couldn't help but stare at her, skin dusted with powdered sugar and determination furrowing her well sculpted brows.

He snuck in silently, wrapping his arms around her waist from behind while he peeked over her head. "It's turned up too high. Put it on medium."

"I wanted to surprise you." Mina deflated, and pouted while she turned down the heat. Khai smiled endearingly, offering a light squeeze, a simple kiss to her temple that allowed him to breathe in her sweet floral scent.

"Well let's mix your eggs and vanilla better, and how about I cut up some strawberries?"

Mina giggled, her weight shifting to lean back against his chest. "You slept in, it's a little after eight you know. Overdo it last night?"

"Never." Khai purred deeply into her ear. Frankly, the blonde minx in his arms kept him rather insatiable, a danger that had him recoiling into his work in every other relationship he'd ever been in. But he didn't want to this time, and yet he let her go, moving to cut some strawberries while keeping a keen eye on what Mina was doing. "I do have a reputation to keep though, you'd better not tell anyone." He stifled a laugh when Mina turned to make a face at him over her shoulder, gesturing with his knife wielding hand to avert her attention back to the stove. "Don't burn that. It should be soft, but not soggy in the middle."

"You cook too? Is there anything you don't do well?" She chided, turning back to flip the bread in her pan. He frowned and added strawberry slices to a bowl. Regardless of their chemistry, he could sympathize with her insecurity, her reasons for not reaching out when she had the means to. He had told her he wanted more, and he did. Khai found himself looking forward to a concert he would normally care less about just because she'd be with him. Formulating New Year's Eve plans, and possibly taking her to Dubai the next time he went to visit his mother, but he'd destroyed every relationship he'd ever had because he was just so damn busy.

"I'm not good at socializing. I can command a board room or lead a project if it involves work, but this…" He gestured between them. "I'm no good at relationships. I keep my circle exceptionally small."

"So, if I ask you if you… oh, I don't know, want to date me…"

"Are you asking me to be your boyfriend?"

Her face flared red and she wouldn't look at him. Khai might have laughed since she suddenly became far more attentive to her cooking than the conversation. "I get it if you don't. I'm a handful and-"

"Would you be okay with me working constantly? Weekends, nights, I…" He could see her visibly deflate from behind and felt a sinking feeling in his heart. His job was a non-negotiable, it was his life, and it was demanding, though he'd always found time for his friends, made time if he had to. Khai took a breath and shifted his stare back up to her, she'd gone silent, and realized that something about Mina made him yearn for more. She was vivacious and alive, colorful in ways that were so absent from his life. "I know I need to compromise if I agree. But I need you to reel me in, keep me accountable." A smirk tugged at his lips as he abandoned his strawberries to wrap her back into his arms. "And call me."

"I believe you have my number now too Mr. Mob Boss."

Khai raised his hands in acknowledging surrender, damn near grinning when she turned around, crossing her arms with spatula still in hand. "I just want to set the expectations upfront. And I want you to make the choice if I give my word to compromise." He lifted her chin with a finger and pulled her closer, her blue eyes dancing among his grey. "I very much want to be with you, Mina."

"That's not fair. I was asking you first." She spoke softly in that teasing way she had about her.

"Well, think about it." He offered, bending to capture her lips with his in a kiss that made fire blaze through him despite its brevity. He smirked smugly at her dreamy expression when they parted, and gestured behind her with his eyes toward the stove. "And don't burn that."

Mina squeaked and turned to quickly flip the fresh piece of french toast in the pan. The smugness in him melted into something softer as he watched her, the way she moved so carefully around the kitchen and improved with every piece she made.

"Okay, do-over." She declared, spinning to press her palms against his bare stomach, gently pushing him back out of the kitchen. "Get back to bed, before you catch a cold, and you'd better act surprised!"

Khai chuckled, bending to kiss her forehead. "As you wish. Merry Christmas, Mina."

"Merry Christmas, Khai." She added with an almost sheepish flush on her cheeks.

He grabbed his laptop back en route back to the bedroom, pausing in horror when he noticed the white cat perched smugly in his nice black dress shirt from the previous night still left in a heap on the living room floor. Narrowing his eyes, Khai tried to shoo the thing, only to be scolded in return with a low growl.

"Fine. You win, for now." He muttered, sauntering back into the bedroom to search for a free outlet to plug in his computer with the cat's judgmental glare fixed on him the entire time. Khai plopped in bed with a defeated sigh, opening his laptop in preparation to get a few things done.

"What do you think you're doing mister!?" He glanced up, several minutes had passed of course and Mina had grown suspiciously silent. But now, the most beautiful woman on the planet stood furiously in the doorway with a tray in hand, plates piled high with french toast and strawberries and mugs of steaming coffee. "You'd better be watching cat videos on YouTube or trying to find something to watch on Netflix. Certainly not working."

Khai chuckled at this, humored and grateful she was already reeling him in from the temptation to process end of the year work. "Just a little Christmas tradition. Speaking of cats, who's your friend? I don't think he likes me much."

The cat hopped onto the bed, purring loudly as Mina set the tray down on the blanket. No sooner had she shooed him off, the cat hopped right back up again.

"Oh, Artemis? He's a spoiled brat, but he's family and I love him." She scratched the feline between the ears, only pausing to slap Khai's hand when he reached for one of the strawberries and climbed into the bed beside him. "Don't change the subject…"

"Artemis is a girl's name you know. Greek Goddess of the hunt?" He'd lifted a mug of coffee from the tray, taking a sip that burned pleasantly on the way down, not averting his eyes from the screen in front of him.

"You are infuriating!" Mina sighed, cupping her own mug between her hands while Artemis curled up at the end of the bed. "I found him in the park when he was a baby, and we thought he was a girl for the longest time, so it just stuck." She shrugged, leaning against his shoulder to peek at what he was working on. "Now tell me what this Christmas tradition is that you're working on."

"Well, I just got done processing bonuses for my employees, which I can't show you, but I'm inputting annual donations to certain causes I feel strongly about. I do it every Christmas morning since I don't typically celebrate a traditional holiday."

"Oh." She said simply, but with interest, feeding him a slice of one of the strawberries she'd arranged in hearts on the sugar coated pieces of french toast. It smelled heavenly, even if he didn't normally indulge in such meals, it was clear to him how hard Mina worked on it all morning. She couldn't have slept very long. "Shouldn't you do bonuses before the holiday?"

"Yes. And I do. But I only book them once they clear, and I also add a small sum to my employee's investment accounts. Since I'm an international, private firm, there are certain perks I cannot extend to them so it's a tradition that I do this today because I can, however, see to it that they and their families have benefits and are set for the future-"

Mina interrupted him, her fingers hooking at his chin to turn his head into her kiss. Powdered sugar lingering on her lips, sweetening the moment that left him dazed when it was over, and Khai thought this must have been how an addict felt because he wanted more. Her eyes danced between his, and she chewed nervously on her bottom lip a moment before a smile tugged at her features. "I want this."

"Hm?"

"I want to try being your girlfriend."

He wanted to tear that sweater off of her, along with the lace bralette that peeked out from the neckline. Mina looked sheepish but didn't she know she was perfect? In contradiction to the butterflies wreaking havoc on his stomach, his reply felt so dry in comparison. But he had to tread carefully, didn't he? Khai didn't want to mess this up.

"Alright then. I'll do my best to be the boyfriend you deserve." He doused some of the french toast in syrup and cut off a piece with a fork, careful to include one of the heart shaped cut strawberries and not to make a mess of her bed when he fed her a bite. Her face lit up, and Khai didn't know if it was his declaration that brought her such joy or if the french toast turned out that good. Either way, for the first time in what felt like forever, something felt right. He didn't even complain or object to the equally syrupy, sugary sweet bite that Mina offered him in return. In fact, it was probably the best french toast he'd ever had.

"Well, at least when we go to a fancy restaurant next time, people won't have to make up stories about us."

"Lovers having dinner seems a bit mundane of a story, don't you think?" He quipped smirking over a sip of his coffee with a raised brow.

Mina only smiled, slowly moving their mostly empty tray to the nightstand. Next, she daintily took the mug from his hand and set it to the side as well. She had that gleam in her eye that Khai began to recognize when she straddled his hips, and laced her finger in his hair, combing with her fingers through the silver strands.

"Oh yes, the best sort of mundane where we look too normal. But little do they know about the hotel room we destroyed just trying to rip each other's clothes off." Her lips were sweet and sticky when she kissed him, he knew where this was going, unable to keep his lips from curling deviantly. "Or the night we spent worshipping each other until three in the morning." Khai pulled her oversized sweater up over her head so he could feast on more lace and smooth skin, the pale blue bralette concealing nothing of her full, perfect breasts. Laptop pushed aside, he pushed her back against the mattress so he could hover on top of her, drinking in her soft little moan.

"Next time we go to that restaurant, we'll have to test our luck in the bathroom, see what it takes for them to kick us out." He purred quietly. Mina giggled and wrapped her legs around him, fingers soft against his cheek.

"People will envy such chemistry, that we can't keep our hands off of each other." To prove her point, her hands began to wander, exploring and testing him. Khai noticed she liked to do that, Mina wasn't shy about trying to figure him out, and he took pleasure in knowing she had the tools to do so. "They'll wonder if we're the kind of couple that stays up all night memorizing boring details about each other. And when we go see Dreamcatcher they'll look at you and wish they had a doting boyfriend to take them to concerts he hates."

"Compromise." He offered with a small shrug, "A very mundane concept of every relationship that most people fail at miserably." Khai dipped his head to taste her neck, knowing it was the point of no return for her the way she inhaled sharply and slanted her head to give him better access. The sweetness of powdered sugar was a pleasant but not unexpected surprise when he tasted her skin, pausing only to whisper one promise. "I won't fail you."

It was a Christmas he'd never forget. How they made love all morning and carried their passion into a steamy shower until they were both clean and exhausted. By the afternoon, Mina was asleep with her head in his lap while the day's light began to wane and cast shadows through the small apartment. Admittingly to no one, Khai had fallen asleep for a short time too, both exhausted, warm, and beyond content.

In an oddly domestic manner, he got up to clean her kitchen for her, fixing a simple soup for dinner with some odds and ends he found in her cabinets since it was likely that nothing was open for carryout. Mina made him sit through 'Love Actually,' which he didn't hate, and they had a good laugh over old commercials she did when she was much younger and fell into a rabbit hole of cringe-worthy but nostalgic advertisements that they relentlessly heckled. Khai only briefly mourned his nice black dress shirt and grey slacks now infested with white cat hair when he finally dressed, an unexpected memento of the day.

It was late when he reluctantly, had to leave. Thankfully he had the added warmth from his suit jacket to stave off a bit more of the cold this time, pulling the blanket Mina had draped over her shoulders around her a bit tighter when she walked him to the door. "I'll call you tomorrow."

"You'd better." Mina beamed endearing how she tried to hide her excitement, but he could see it sparkle through her eyes. "Sorry about your shirt."

"It's just a shirt." He smiled, that smile that was warm and only extended to people closest to him. Khai didn't mind because it made her flustered in the most adorable way. "Better yet, I'll pick you up when I get off. We'll do dinner at my place this time."

"It's a date!" She flirted with a scandalous wink. "Merry Christmas, Boyfriend."

"Merry Christmas Mina." Khai gave her a brief kiss, meeting her eyes with promise before he left to face the cold detour to Mamoru's apartment to collect his coat and keys and divert his probing interrogation about where he was. For the moment, Mina was his to keep, knowing they would have to answer to their friends sooner than later, he wanted just a little more time to keep their relationship to himself.

Later, before he settled into his apartment that was too quiet, too dull, and fell into a bed that felt too cold, he sent a short text before falling asleep because it was the first time in so long, that he missed someone that he didn't have to miss. Mina was his girlfriend now, after all.

"Goodnight beautiful, Merry Christmas."


End file.
